A snapshot summary of three pretty creative and new fast “door cars” from Canada which made their debut this season….
Canada’s excellence within race car design and fabrication was in the spotlight for all to see during 2019.
In Eastern Canada — the father and son team of Ken and Mike Everitt (from Stratford Ontario) did manage the debut of their much anticipated new Pro Mod 1969 Nova.
Ken and Mike, who have been long time participants within Ontario’s provincial scene — in both Top Dragster and Top Sportsman class cars — tasked Tom VanderGeld’s Lowdown Hot Rods (Cambridge ON) with the construction of their new car.
The Everitt Racing Nova is for sure at first glance a very “Pro Street” looking Pro Mod. It features a 521 CID BA Hemi that is equipped with a centrifugal supercharger (Procharger) program. 
Ken and Mike Everitt hit the track with very creative Canadian built Pro Mod Nova last season.
“Our car is a bit against the grain for Pro Mod,” admitted driver Mike Everitt. “It is not a carb and plug deal. It does have some very high tech aspects — we control all the fuel, ignition and data logging (FuelTech) using a lap top.”
“We did start the concept back in 2016 — and Tom delivered the car to us as a roller this season,” Mike added. “There is a heap of Canadian talent in it — including a transmission by John Hutchison and paint by Jeff Gabel.”
This Nova does have some other unique touches too — it does have steel quarter panels and rockers and it even has a factory appearing dash and assembly.
We liked this cool factory replica dash!
The team made limited but progressive appearances last season. While 2019 did not produce any jaw dropping numbers for the car just yet — the Nova did show a lot of promise for the future.
“I had never raced with a trans brake before,” Mike added. “So that change was a big adjustment — bigger than I first thought — it’s a really different feeling for the driver. We took mostly baby steps. For our team this year was mostly all about learning the car.”
Out West — Kelowna BC’s RH Race Cars — continues it’s reputation for pumping out high end race car products.
Dean Bettenson (from Red Deer AB), who had made quite an impression the past couple years while racing his supercharged ’57 Chevy Pro Mod (Bunker’s Junker) did morph his team a bit this year — by adding in a spectacular new late model Chevy Camaro – built by RH Race Cars — to the equation.
Dean Bettenson’s new Pro Mod Chevy Camaro — is now outfitted with the latest in Pro-Line pro charger motor tech.
Bettenson, who is a very successful businessman (owner of Belair Power) brought out the new Camaro as just a toy to experiment with — initially.
Dean Bettenson
“The Camaro was originally built to all Pro Mod specs,” Dean said. “But our ’57 Chevy came along about the same time — so the Camaro sat at Ryan’s shop for a time. But this year we decided to finish it up. I did have an 800 CID Steve Schmidt motor (naturally aspirated) that we used to test the car and shake it down.”
With that motor the car was run for the first time at Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway — where it did clock in at 199 mph on just its 2nd full hit.
“Over the summer — I got more and more curious to see if we could make this car run fast,” he added. “I just loved the sleek new look of the late model Camaro (a NHRA legal Pro Stock body) and the fact we had options where we could run it — Top Sportsman, Pro Mod or even with small tires.”
Fast forward however — Bettenson has now confirmed that his Camaro is now in a “full monty” Pro Mod configuration. He has just recently installed some of the very latest motor technology from Pro-Line and has also filed his entry for the Pro Mod eliminator during the West Coast’s marquee 15th annual Street Car Supernationals at Las Vegas — which happens in a couple of weeks.
Dean plans to drive the Camaro there, while J.R. Lazic (from Kelowna BC) will continue to wheel his Belair Power race team’s ’57 Chevy.
Also from Kelowna and also from RH Race Cars — this summer did include the debut for one of Canada’s newest licensed Pro Mod drivers — Eric Horvath.
Eric Horvath became one of Canada’s newest Pro Mod drivers in 2019.
Horvath, who prior to this season had cut his teeth in drag racing within mostly 1/8th mile Outlaw Street and No Prep racing scenes, purchased his 1967 Firebird about November 2018. This was the Firebird that was formally driven by Jeff Doyle — but which had to be rebuilt after Doyle crashed it.
“I had been thinking about Pro Mod racing for a while — so when the opportunity came up for this car — I jumped at it.’ he said.
Eric’s Firebird, (which scores very high style points for doing crowd pleasing burnouts!) features a turbocharged 672 CID motor from Pro-Line that has twin 94 mm turbos. He confirmed his car is well equipped with all the “good stuff” as he charts his racing plans forward.
“Ryan and his guys built great race cars,” he emphasized. “This Firebird is great to drive and goes really straight. We stayed mostly local within Western Canada this season — sorting it all out and getting experience.”
Eric also cited highly valued support from his top crew member – Sebastian Klempnauer and also sponsorship from Gordie Abouroush (Kelowna Classic Auto).
There is a strong likelihood that Eric too will also be entered for the Pro Mod eliminator at SCSN Las Vegas (Nov 22-24th).
Post by Bruce Biegler
